Tick Tock
by IceCrome
Summary: Serena hated that clock. OS. Crack.


_Based entirely around my annoying-as-hell clock my dad got a while ago. It completely ruins moments. I'm trying to see the climactic battle in X-Men but oh! Look at that! The clock decides to play that annoying song that I've heard OVER 9000 TIMES._

_I hate that freaking clock._

_© Naoko Takeuchi_

_Takes place after the series finale. Yes, they're engaged. And I added in ONE Japanese word. Count, ONE because I LIKE it. The reason is clarified. _

_And I added in the second X-men movie. Fully aware that it's an American movie, but you can import that shit. _

_

* * *

_

In life, there are many things that are unfair and annoying. For instance, say you've wanted a puppy for a very long time. When Christmas rolls around and you open the biggest box, surprise Timmy! Mommy and Daddy forgot to put air holes in the present! You get a dead puppy.

That's what Serena's life was like. A dead puppy. Minus the fact that she could still breath and did not walk on all fours, and was not _nearly _as hairy but, you get the point. Her life stunk, and it was completely unfair.

Oh sure, life stunk for everyone. People would spill smoothies on their pants, get their hearts broken, or fight off extraterrestrial monsters. Wait, that was just Serena. Never mind.

She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Rini to get out of her swimming lesson. She held up an umbrella to keep her from the rain, and silently cursed Rini. She loved her and all, but she could be _very _inconvenient. She needed to beat the last level on the Sailor V game!

Grumbling, she checked her watch one more time to see that it was five minutes before her class came out. She continued to tap her foot rhythmically.

She wished that somebody could be here waiting (suffering) with her. Preferably Darien. But no. He had to work. Stupid management. His boss was a total ass.

"Any day now…" She grumbled, and glanced at her watch every few seconds. She heaved a sigh, and watched the children come out one by one. She went on her tip-toes to try and find a girl with cotton-candy meatballs in her hair. She glanced at her watch again. She was late.

"Ri_-ni! _It's me, Serena! Come on, we need to get out of this rain before it gets even worse!" Rini poked her head up, and ran up to Serena.

"Hey Serena, thanks for picking me up!" Rini came out, wearing a yellow raincoat and pink boots. Serena glanced up, and gave her a gentle smile.

"Alright Rini, come on. Darien said he'd make us dinner, so let's head home, hm?" Rini grabbed her hand, and skipped along happily in the rain. Serena smiled down at the young girl again, and made sure that she was firmly under the umbrella.

Thoughts raced about in her head, and Rini pulled hard on her arm, making her yelp. She was about to chide her for doing that, but realized she was going to walk out into open traffic.

"Ah. Sorry. Thanks, Rini." Rini had a smug sense of self-satisfaction plastered on her face, and Serena rolled her eyes. She led Rini across the road, and gave a thankful wave to the cars that stopped for her.

They made their way to his apartment, and Rini's boots make a squeaking noise as they stepped across the tiled floor that reminded Serna of Darien's horribly ugly green jacket. She reminded herself to kill that thing once they reached his apartment.

Kill it _dead_.

"Rini, I have a _ques_tion." Serena said coyly, putting emphasis on the first syllable. Rini looked up to see her mouth twisting into a smile.

"You took more time than usual getting out of swimming today. Did the teacher keep you over or is it something _else?_" Rini blushed, well aware what Serena was getting at. She fidgeted, and Serena widened her smile.

"Er…it-it's no one, Serena." Rini pushed her index fingers together. Serena looked down at her.

"Oh, you can't fool me, Rini! I might not have been able to tell when Darien was proposing, but I know I haven't seen you blush like that since you met Helios!" Rini tensed up and the blush on her face deepened further.

"N-Nothing Serena!" A loud 'ding' saved Rini, and she let out a sigh of relief. Serena glanced down, and rolled her eyes. She was so secretive, honestly. How come she couldn't be involved in her daughter's love life?! She just wanted the best and to exploit it for personal hilarity.

Er…okay…maybe she had a few reasons to keep secrets…

Serena knocked rhythmically on the door, and was greeted by the warm face of her fiancée.

"Moshi moshi!" Serena said, and gave Darien a light peck on the cheek. Rini faked a gag, and Darien ruffled her hair.

"Serena, you were going to practice your English more, remember?" He chuckled, and invited her inside.

Rini plopped down on the couch, and began to watch her after-school cartoons. She chewed on her hair strands and watched the magical Mr. Twinkle rescue Contessa from the clutches of Jesús the Incredible. Serena glanced up to see the poorly drawn characters, although probably purposefully drawn badly. She raised an eyebrow, and shook her head.

'_I'm glad I stuck to Shin Chan…' _She smiled, and sat down on the couch next to Rini, quickly being enveloped in the show's (lack-thereof) plot.

Serena and Rini were on the edge of their seats, watching as Mr. Twinkle and his magical top-hat and cape of supremacy (according to the show) stopped Jesús the Incredible and saved the day/world once more.

"_I'm sorry Mr. Twinkle…but…I am afraid I cannot join you as Queen of Sahyrula Land. For I must stay here, and guard the Picania children and hope that they lead fulfilling lives." _Serena felt a tear slide down her cheek, and quickly wiped it off with her index finger. She glanced at Rini next to her, who was also trying to hide her shedding tears.

"I…never knew…that a cartoon could make me _cry_!" Rini and Serena latched onto each other, crying and sobbing at the fictional characters and their 'troubles'. Darien, hearing the sobbing and knowing full-well what is was about, sighed and shook his head as he continued to chop potatoes.

"But she said she'd stick with him _for-ev-er!" _Rini choked out, and Serena patted the girl's head.

"Life can be _so_ cruel, Rini. Remember that." Serena grabbed a tissue, and blew her nose into it, and picked another clean one, giving it to Rini, who did the same.

"Uh…girls? You…might want to calm down…It's just a show…"

That was totally _not_ the right thing to say.

"It is _NOT _just a show! Darien Shields you take that back RIGHT _NOW." _Serena's eyes sparkled in the non-existent light. She clasped her hands together and stared out the window.

"The love of Mr. Twinkle and Contessa will go unchanged forever, even if the stupid girl won't admit it!" Rini mimicked her mother's actions, and nodded her head.

"Mr. Twinkle is deeply in love with her! Their love could pierce the greatest evil there ever was! If that's not real, then I don't know what is!" Darien gave a nervous laugh.

"Alright, alright. I take it back." He put his hands up defensively, and the two girls quickly got over their anger and were knee-deep back in the show. Darien could've slapped his forehead. But, of course, he didn't. He had dignity.

"Rini, Rini! Turn it up, turn it up! She's about to confess her love for Mr. Twinkle!" Serena yelled, clasping onto the end of Darien's couch, nearly ripping a hole through it.

"I am, I am! Hold your horses!" Rini pushed the volume button as hard as she could, bringing it up from '20' to '30'.

"This scene is so sad! Contessa needs to admit her undying love for him!"

"Um…girls? The uh…stew is done. And I'm going to turn that off before is starts melting your already soft brains." Two glares and pouts were thrown at him, courtesy of the mother-daughter death squad of love and justice. His two favorite meatball-heads.

"Ooh! I love Beef Stew! Come on Rini, let's chow down!" The future princess nodded, and skipped off to the kitchen. Serena giggled, and headed the same way as she did.

"Serena, hand this to Rini." He passed her a bowl, and she bent down to hand it to Rini, who set it up on the table and jumped onto the chair.

Serena glanced over at the clock hung on the wall, and grimaced silently. It was almost four.

_Which meant…_

A loud, screeching, annoying melody came out from the clock, and Serena used every fiber of her being to not, repeat,_ not_ jump up and kick, tear, punch, and pummel that _thing_ to death. Her eye started to twitch voluntarily, and Darien noticed the er…obvious problem.

"Serena…are you alright?" She gripped the tablecloth and nearly pierced a hole through it with her fingernails.

"Fine…just _fine_…!" She gave him a oh-so-fake smile and tried desperately to _not kill that clock._

"Oh I can't _take _it anymore! Why did you choose _that stupid, annoying clock! _Every time I'm _right. In. the. Middle. Of. Something. _It plays an annoying tune!" Darien and Rini stepped as far away from Serena as possible, because the fires of hell consumed her and multiple veins were about to pop in her head.

"O-okay Serena…just calm down…the song will go away in a second…" She breathed in and out heavily, and calmed down, cheerfully eating her soup once the melody of death and destruction (at least for Serena) went away.

"Wow, this is _really _good Darien! Did you get this recipe from Lita?" Darien and Rini looked at each other and blinked, trying to figure out what the _hell _just happened.

"Is Serena…um…okay?" Darien shrugged, still shaking slightly from his fiancée's outburst and sudden hatred of the clock he got a month ago. He couldn't fathom _why_ she brought this up now, instead of when she was there _getting the thing with him_ saying 'Ooh, Darien, it plays such a _beautiful _tune! It's so cool, we should buy it!'

This was further explanation of why he doesn't understand Serena. Or women in general.

"Ehehe…sorry about that. Hey Darien, are you in the mood for a movie?"

* * *

"_I always thought that you were unique…I was wrong…" _Serena got closer to the edge of the couch as she anticipated the Wolverine/Random female clone of Wolverine who is not given an explicit name battle.

It was the fight of the century. _And she's seen hundreds!_

She glanced at Rini, who was knee-deep in the movie as well. She liked that her daughter was slightly a nerd. Just like her.

She threw some more popcorn into her mouth, and chomped away eagerly. Darien looked over at her, and shook his head. It never ceased to amaze him the amount of food that this girl could eat in a day.

And _not gain weight. _

He envied her, honestly.

"Go Wolverine!" She pumped a fist into the air. Quickly, she put it back down with a blush still on her face.

"S-sorry." She glanced at the clock to her right, and tensed up.

_Almost…eight? _

And the kitchen light was on…

'_Oh…crap…' _She shut her eyes quickly, and tried to block out the _sadistic tune _that played. It was pure torture. Like, nails on a _chalkboard _torture.

Serena winced, and tried oh-so desperately to not _pummel that thing to death _and kept her concentration on the movie. She kept glancing into the kitchen, and glared at the clock.

Darien quickly noticed she was trying to think of a plan that would suffice her desire to _kill that thing DEAD._

But he didn't want to get strangle/tortured/maimed/or be unable to produce fertile children. So he gave her a light peck on the cheek, which signified _please calm down. _Thankfully, she got the hint.

They sat in silence, or what _was _silence before Serena started to cheer on Wolverine again.

"Yeah! You killed her! _Awesome._" Rini and Serena exchanged a small hi-five.

A while later, after the movie was over and Rini was tucked all in bed, the couple cuddled together on the couch.

"You know, it's really odd how you instantly hate that clock. That I bought three weeks ago. And you begged me to get it." Serena flushed.

"Well…after the billionth time it gets very…annoying. And it's…just…irritating." She sighed, and snuggled into his chest. He played with her hair, and brought one arm around her petite body.

'_Da Na da NA dah DAN duh dan da NA nah.' _

'…_Crap! I thought I turned the light off!' _Darien thought, knowing where this would be heading. Serena quickly got out of his hold, and stomped into the kitchen to where the stupid, annoying clock of _sadism _hung.

"You're _mocking _me! You play that _annoying tune _every time I'm _right _in the middle of something! Well you know what? _Screw you, clock! _You're made of _evil _and _lies! _I have had enough of you!" Darien walked into the kitchen, and tilted his head to see her looking through the drawers for something sharp, blunt, something that would explode.

She wasn't doing a very good job.

"Serena. Please put the knife down…"

"_The clock must die!_" She stabbed the clock with the butcher knife, and the incessant tune of the clock was silenced forever.

"I'm sorry about that Darien…but _it had to die._" Darien rolled his eyes and chuckled. To be honest, he never really liked that clock either. Its tune was like a drill to his brain when he had a headache.

"Ah, it's alright. It's just a clock, it can be easily replaced." He kissed her temple, "Just promise me to never freak out about a clock again. And if it bothers you, just tell me. Besides, I'm fairly certain that Rini is going to have nightmares due to your, ah, 'outburst' at dinner."

"Ehehe…yeah…"

"Honestly, the fires of hell were surrounding you. It was the scariest thing I think I've ever seen you do."

"Aw…was Darien afraid of the big, bad Serena?" She teased, poking him on his nose.

"Yes. Yes I was."

* * *

"…and then I took a butcher knife and stabbed it to death." Serena took a large sip of her milkshake, while the other four sailor soldiers looked at her as if she sprouted a tentacle.

"You're serious?" Raye said, the ice cream on her spoon melting and dripping off. She was, er…surprised, to say the least.

"Serena, you could've just said 'Please give it away' or 'sell it'. You didn't have to murder the er, clock." Lita said, still confused and baffled, but slightly amused, at her story. She took a sip of her hot chocolate, while still running through her head to never taunt Serena with clocks, for it will end badly.

"Serena, you do realize how…um…childish that sounds?" Amy said, stirring her French fry in ketchup several times before popping it into her mouth.

The only person who was not completely baffled and perplexed by Serena's clock murder was Mina, who was, in fact, _congratulating _her.

"Alright, go Serena, WOO!" Mina high-fived her, and the girls stared at her.

"What? I hate clocks like that too. My cousin has one, and it woke me up in the middle of the night with its stupid music."

"Exactly! Thank you Mina, at least somebody agrees with me." Serena stood up, and grabbed her pale pink purse.

"Well, I have to go. I still have to make plans for the wedding. Goody." She waved goodbye to them, and stepped out the door.

* * *

"She's going to be really mad, Darien."

"I know."

"You'll be sleeping on the couch, you know that, right?"

"Fully aware, Rini"

"And that it's going to be totally hilarious for me, right?"

"Sadly, yes. I'm aware."

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late. There was some…event or something going on and…-." Serena blinked, as she saw the new clock hanging up in the living room.

"A _cuckoo clock?! _DARIEN!"

Rini smiled, "And the show begins…"

* * *

_I still can't write endings._

_Did I mention I hate that clock?_

_I hate it._


End file.
